Britain is sending thousands of pigs to China in a bid to boost exports and
exploit Chinese people’s love of offal and pork.

Chinese farmers and food companies have placed orders for 2,000 high-quality British pigs to breed with their inferior quality domestic animals.

A delegation of British pig farmers is in China this week to further increase sales of live breeding pigs, pork and farm technology.

Jim Paice, the Food Minister, flew out to join the group yesterday and will spend much of the next week drumming up trade for British food exports.

China’s rapidly growing urban middle-class has developed a taste for pork and demand for the meat is soaring.

However Chinese pork is low quality and there is not enough to go around the estimated 230 million middle-class Chinese. Although China produces 46 million metric tones of pork a year, demand far outstrips supply.

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British farmers are therefore sending high-yielding and healthy pigs for breeding in China in order to increase pig numbers over there.

The pigs, which are mainly from the Large White, Landrace and Duroc breeds, sell for around £1,000 each. Farmers estimate that there is enough demand from China to export up to £20 million worth of breeding pigs a year.

Farmers are also increasing meat exports to China.

As well as enjoying pork cuts, Chinese consumers have developed a taste for the so-called fifth quarter of a pig, which consists of offal and tripe.

Shipments of meat and live pigs form part of the food industry’s plans to grow exports of British food and drink by 20 per cent by 2020. Last year exports were worth just over £12 billion, according to the Food and Drink Federation (FDF).

Mr Paice said that there is “massive scope” to increase exports of breeding pigs, pork and farm technology to China, which will not be self-sufficient in pig meat “for the foreseeable future”.

“We used to sell breeding pigs to China but it all ground to a halt some years ago when they got worried about our disease situation. It has now opened again and clearly there is huge opportunity.

“China has massive numbers of pigs but their genetics are very poor and their productivity in terms of pigs per sow is less than half of ours. So there is huge scope for selling breeding stock to China,” the minister said.

He added that he is “determined” to remove any existing trade barriers and “open up the market for pig meat”.

Mr Paice added that Chinese consumers are “much more keen” on the fifth quarter of a pig.

“The Chinese love offal and things like that and we are less enthused by it,” he said.

Chris Jackson, the British Pig Association executive who is leading the sales push in China, said that pork is the “meat of choice” for Chinese people.

“They are consuming around 12 kilograms per head of population each year. That is about the same as in Britain but there are a lot more people in China,” he said.

The three pig breeds that are being exported to China are:

The Large White – these large and long-bodied pigs are known for their high-quality hams and can withstand variations in climate and other environmental factors. The hardy pigs are characterised by their erect ears and slightly dished faces.

Landrace – Originally imported to Britain from Sweden in 1949, Landrace sows have the ability to produce and rear large litters of piglets with a high meat content. Landraces are also known to improve other breeds of pig in cross-breeding programmes. They are prized by farmers for their ability to breed in both indoor and outdoor conditions.

Duroc – These large red pigs produce succulent meat and can gain weight quickly, allowing them to be fattened for slaughter in a relatively short amount of time. They are ideal outdoor animals due to their thick winter coats which moults out in the summer.